Word-of-mouth is often the best way to hear about new places, especially from someone with firsthand experience. And that’s what led me to Phuket Cleanse, a boutique wellness retreat on the southernmost tip of Phuket. A couple of years earlier I’d seen promotional email flyers in my inbox from Phuket Cleanse, which to be honest,…

I was suffering from chronic shoulder and neck pain when I walked into 137 Pillars Bangkok’s Nitra Spa to see one of the visiting wellness practitioners at their Season of Wellness, a three-month wellness festival featuring visiting holistic healing gurus from around Asia. The Season of Wellness was initiated to support the lifestyle needs of…

It was May by the time I realized it had happened again. As usual, my new year’s health goal was to get fit and lose weight, starting from day one of January. Did that happen? No. Of course this sort of thing doesn’t happen by itself. I meant to go off to a fitness retreat…

It seems obvious to choose Shanghai or Beijing for a first visit to China. I would have done that too, but the minute I heard the words “panda city”, I was headed to Chengdu. I wasn’t even sure exactly where Chengdu was at first, but who cares, when the city is the official panda center…

Did your New Year’s resolutions include lose weight and get fit? The easiest way to do this is to go on a health holiday where the whole stay is devoted to improving your health, nutrition, and wellness in a relaxing, supportive environment. As a spa book author, wellness journalist and a judge for the regional AsiaSpa Awards, I’ve been…

Forget Bangkok’s big, big night life scene for one night. This powerful new holistic spa treatment calms and rewires your whole body and brain for a refreshing, restorative, real night’s sleep. I’m the kind of person who can sleep anywhere – airplanes, desks, cars, restaurants. This is partly because I’m the size of a pocket monster and can easily curl into my own…

King’s Cup Elephant Polo 8-11 March, 2018 Never heard of elephant polo? Yes it’s for real and there’s even an annual Asian elephant polo circuit with the grandest and most extravagant bash held in Bangkok, Thailand with all the high society glamour and luxury sponsors as any horse polo tournament. Thailand’s 16th annual King’s Cup Elephant…

Imagine waking up and going to sleep to this view every day… Holiday home, retirement retreat, or rental property – Frederique’s villa is an outstanding investment. Frederique’s stunning villa is located on Koh Samui Island off the Southern Thailand coast in the Gulf of Thailand. Built in tropical style that merges indoor with outdoor living,…

70 Spiritual Leaders | 100 Countries | 150 Sessions The International Yoga Festival, 1-7 March, 2018 It’s time to head to Rishikesh, the birthplace of yoga, the home of the ancient yogis, sages and seers. Every year the riverside town of Rishikesh in the cool Himalayan foothills hosts the International Yoga Festival with more people…

I always forget I’ve been to Malaysia because I haven’t been to Kuala Lumpur. But then I remember I’ve been to Penang and stayed at a historic hotel that isn’t easy to forget at all. The Blue Mansion Penang is an unusual boutique hotel with its own unique heritage and even Hollywood movie credits. An…

Thailand is called Asia’s spa capital for good reason, and Bangkok is a haven for medi-spas and aesthetic centers offering the latest and best beauty treatments. You don’t need to go as far as a face lift or even botox to refresh your look any more. There are so many other anti-ageing beauty treatments to reboot your…

I was checking my mail while waking up in the fluffy bed in my beach villa at Hurawalhi Maldives when the news came that Hurawalhi had won Romantic Hotel/Resort of the Year at the AsiaSpa Awards in Hong Kong the previous night. As a long-time judge for these annual regional awards, I‘d been invited to…

I must confess. I had never been that keen to go to the Maldives until I visited the fabulous, amazing new Hurawalhi Maldives Resort last month. Yes you heard me. And you may wonder- who in their right mind wouldn’t want to go to these jaw-dropping paradise islands? Err … that would be moi. And I had my own reasons….

I was feeling blah, achy, and all dried up like a raisin in the sun when I walked into Dermaster Wellness & Aesthetic Institution Bangkok. I was hoping that an anti-ageing treatment at this aesthetic clinic slash medical spa would rejuvenate my complexion and help me look fresher, and, please oh please, maybe even younger….

What insider insight can I tell you about Phuket, an island so famous, so popular and so commercial that for decades it’s been consistently voted on “World’s Best Islands” lists and whatever other superlatives you can imagine. Well here’s a useful bit of info that might astonish people about this famous island. What most Phuket…

This September – November, luxurious Amankora resorts in the unspoilt Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan offer exclusive wellness experiences to take you on your own inner journeys, while travelling through its elegant lodges around the Land of the Thunder Dragon. Amankora – Meaning of Life Retreat 10th – 18th September If you’ve ever dreamed of an experience that will literally…

I never get tired of visiting Bali, and I go there on a regular basis. Thank goodness for good friends who live there, as well as a growing circle of new friends the more I go there. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s the most charming, inviting, relaxing, and photogenic of places to go…

What do you do when a Viceroy of the British Empire comes visiting? Build him a palace to stay in. I’ve said this before, and I say it again – I love old palace hotels in India. I love the majesty, the history, the crumbling edges, and the slight creepiness of these old buildings. The biggest…

The Ganges River can surprise you, and I mean in a good way. High in the Himalayan foothills you can play on its aquamarine waters and sleep on its snow-white sand banks. I wasn’t always a luxury spa freak. I’ve always liked adventure travel and exotic places, as long as there’s some hygiene and comfort involved; I like…

I’m like everyone else in making New Year / new body resolutions after the holiday feasting frenzy. I even like to get a head start on my list in December, setting goals to join a gym, do a fitness boot camp, join a zumba class, get a trainer, blah, blah, blah. Well next thing you…

From big bold statement pieces to dainty dangling droplets, the allure of raw, natural gemstones is eye-catching in every piece of Yang Jewellery. Find out what inspires this amazing designer … To those who know her, my friend Yang Riches is admired in Bangkok social circles for her classic elegance and ageless style. Tall and slim, she loves fashion and always…

I felt like I needed to get back into city mode after returning to Bangkok from Bali. Frolicking among the birds of paradise like a rainforest nymph can’t go on forever, and now it was time to hang the batik sarong back on its bamboo peg and get my head into some kind of business mode again. And what could be…